What role do investors play in value creation inside their portfolio companies?
Value creation is one of those terms that can mean very different things to different people. Is it marketing BS, a buzzword that is easy to throw about that negates the need to explain further? Is it simply about having a strict focus on the P&L?
A ruthless focus on cost cutting can only take a business so far. Healthcare in particular is a sector where short-term gains from cost cutting can bring significant reputational risk and longer-term damage to operators, investors and their shareholders. Cost cutting was at the heart of the allegations of poor care quality which rocked the European elderly care market in recent years, and at the centre of the financial collapse of US hospital group Steward Health.
Just this morning, the CEO of a European healthcare services scale-up remarked to me that the private equity investor who bought his previous outpatient business came in with no strategy or long term vision for the 80+ sites, and that this was an all too common issue.
There is a gap between operator and sponsor which needs closing. This is a big opportunity to drive the long-term multi-stakeholder value needed in healthcare.
So how do investors see their role in creating sustained value in their portfolio companies?
Blogs like this typically endeavour to answer the question they’ve posed at this stage. Instead, I want to invite you to tell me.
In the run up to HBI 2026, the healthcare investing conference, which is taking place March 23-25 in Paris, under the theme Creating Value in Changing Times, we are launching a series of surveys for private investors to share their views on market opportunities and value creation levers. An investment of only five minutes of your time to answer this survey will return you some data against which you can benchmark your strategy and unlock new ideas.
In exchange for your time you will also be amongst the first to receive the survey report once published, have the opportunity to share deeper insights with our editorial team, potentially speak at HBI 2026, and will also receive an additional 10% discount on the published ticket rate.
Click here to take the survey and benchmark your ideas against those of your peers
We would welcome your thoughts on this story. Email your views to Lee Murray or call 0207 183 3779.
